Composition of nixtamilized maize dough for the production of maize pancakes

ABSTRACT

A corn paste for making tortillas is disclosed, which comprises between ten to one-hundred grams of dietary fiber in one kilogram of corn paste that provides a suitable proportion of raw fiber that can fulfill the minimum dietary fiber requirements of the human body and with the appropriate organoleptic attributes, as well as commercially adequate minimum shelf life.

This application claims benefit under 35 U.S. 371 of PCT/MX98/00033,filed Jul. 13, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that the consumption of fiber in the diet is beneficialto human health. Since this discovery, the number of products containinglarge amounts of fiber has increased, and products with 100% fiber havebeen commonly made.

From the point of view of digestion, dietary fiber stimulates theperistaltic movements of the digestive tract and improving thedisplacement through the tract. Also, fiber has the attribute ofabsorbing fat and reducing its assimilation.

There are several products on the market that an individual can use toincrease one's intake of dietary fiber. These products are available inthe form of pills, powder, and tablets. There are also several breakfastcereals on the market that contain a significant amount of raw fiber. Ofwhat is known about the digestive process of the human body and thefunctioning of the organs, it is known of the need of raw fiber beingpresent in the bolus to assure its presence in chyme. It is in the smalland large intestines that dietary fiber predominantly accomplishes itsaction.

Pills and tablets consumed in that way are not quite convenient, sinceafter taking them, fiber will be present only in a small part of thebolus and therefore, just in a reduced fraction of chyme.

The consumption of the high fiber breakfast cereals would be mostbeneficial if the cereal was consumed in small portions periodicallythroughout the day with each meal. However this is not possible becauseof the organoleptic attributes of such cereals.

The solution to introducing raw fiber in every consumed aliment was toinclude fiber in an aliment which could be easily consumed with soup aswell as with stew. The outcome of this reasoning is to choose tortillaas a support or incipient of raw fiber.

The manufacturing process of “tortillas” has been known since theancient Mayas times. There are mainly three stages to tortillamanufacturing: (1) The “nixtamalization” (to obtain the “nixtamal”), (2)the grinding of the nixtamal (to obtain the paste), and (3) themanufacture of the “tortilla” (using the paste).

Each of the three manufacturing stages has had their own technicalprogress as to the different elements being used in them, but one of thenutrimental characteristics of corn was what strongly attracted theattention of the studious: The lack of lysine and tryptophane in themain protein existing in corn: Zein.

Even though the “nixtamalization” stages improves the proportions of thedifferent aminoacids in corn proteins, the nutritional problem was stillthere, several investigations were performed to test the addition ofdifferent substances rich in protein to the paste of “maiznixtamalizado”. The substances tested were, sesame seed and fish powder,among others. The conclusion from the studies was unanimous: corn pastedoes not allow the addition of any of the tested substances withoutaltering the organoleptic attributes of the tortillas.

From the first experiments, it could also be concluded that paste alsochanges its organoleptic attributes when dietary fiber is added to it,just as it happens with the previously mentioned powders.

The main changes concerned the mechanical attributes of the “tortilla”:The tortillas were less flexible (they tore when making a “taco”), andtoo impermeable (the tortillas fell into pieces when cooking certaindishes such as “enchiladas”), and of the paste: The corn paste lost itsflexibility (or gum-like body) when dietary fiber was added.

Another important characteristic of the “tortilla” is its shelf life.High fiber tortillas must have a shelf life of about one week to bepractical which can only be accomplished by using preservatives.

The “tortillas” that are presently commercially available containpreservatives that cause the product to taste and smell unpleasant,having also the disadvantage of tortillas breaking easily, being verypermeable and having an unpleasant appearance.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of this invention is to provide a means that can beused in every meal and with a majority of the dishes to supply dietaryfiber to the human body. A second objective of the invention is toprovide a corn paste (“nixtamilizado”) to make high fiber “tortillas”that would have a suitable proportion of raw fiber that can fulfill theminimum dietary fiber requirements of the human body and with theappropriate organoleptic attributes of color, smell, taste andmechanical qualities that would allow the tortilla to be used in its usein cooking such items as “tacos” or “enchiladas”. Another objective isto create an adequate combination of a corn paste, which can be used tomanufacture tortillas with the aforementioned attributes and also have aminimum shelf life of 7 days.

An additional objective is to produce a corn paste (“nixtamalizado”)that permits the manufacture of a “tortilla” which after being reheatedmaintains its original organoleptic characteristics.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

After finding out that eating “tortillas” is an excellent means toprovide the human body with the recommended daily allowance of dietaryfiber, there still existed a problem: The negative effects that isproduced that result from the addition of the fiber in making thetortillas.

After many experiments, an unexpected solution was found: We discoveredthat the solution was to combine an appropriate proportion of dietaryfiber with an appropriate combination of dietary fiber with the solubleand insoluble alimentary fibers which did not change unfavorably theattributes of taste, smell and appearance, and did favorably change themechanical qualities of the resulting “tortilla” and intervened in animportant way in increasing its shelf life.

With a low concentration dietary fiber being included in the paste, therecommended daily allowance of fiber for human body was not reached,taking into account the amount of “tortilla” that an individualconsumes. The amount of raw fiber (dietary fiber) was increasedexcessively, the resulting “tortillas” made out of this paste were toofirm (with leather-like consistency).

If the fiber used in the paste contained an excess of insolublealimentary fiber, the resulting “tortillas” lost water very quickly,broke easily, and were too permeable, falling into pieces when used incooking dishes such as “enchiladas”. The paste would not be flexibleenough, which made the manufacture of “tortillas” very difficult.

If the fiber combination used in the paste contained an excess ofsoluble fiber, the resulting paste was very flexible, gum-like andsticky, and was therefore inappropriate for the manufacture of“tortillas”. The resulting “tortillas” became leather-like within a veryshort time of being stored, and caused an unpleasant sensation whenconsumed.

We discovered that the best combination of fiber was achieved when eachkg. of improved paste contained, between 10 and 100 gr. of fiber. In achosen preferred embodiment, the amount of dietary fiber in the pastewas between 60 and 70 gr. for each kg.

The proportion of soluble and insoluble fiber in the combination of cornpaste was altered in such a way that the resulting “tortilla” hadbetween 30%-45% of soluble fiber and 55-70% of insoluble fiber. Thiscombination provided the maximum amount of fiber to the diet and keptthe desirable qualities of the resulting “tortilla”. The chosenproportion in the combination of fiber corn paste was such, that theresulting “tortilla” contained 40% of soluble fiber and 60% of insolublefiber.

The undesirable taste and smells caused by the use of preservatives wereavoided by using fumaric and propionic acid salts instead of using theacids themselves.

These salts increased the shelf life of the tortillas without causing anundesirable taste or smell.

EXPERIMENTATION EXAMPLE 1

We used 990 gr. of corn paste, added 10 gr. of dietary fiber with whichresulted in the fiber of the tortilla consisting of 40% soluble fiberand 60% of insoluble fiber in the fiber element of the resultingtortilla. To the above combination, we added 8 gr. of preservativeswhich consist of propionic acid and fumaric acid salts; 1.5 gr. ofcarboximethyl-cellulose and 2.5 gr. of citric acid. The results wereacceptable as to shelf life and organoleptic attributes.

EXAMPLE 2

We used took 960 gr. of corn paste, and we added 40 gr. of dietary fiberwith resulted in the fiber descend or the tortilla consisting of 40%soluble fiber and 60% of insoluble fiber. To the elements above, weadded 8 gr. of preservatives, which consisted of propionic acid andfumaric acid salts, 1.5 gr. of carboximethyl-cellulose, and 2.5 gr. ofcitric acid. The obtained results were acceptable with regard to shelflife and organoleptic attributes.

EXAMPLE 3

We took 935 gr. of corn paste and we added 65 gr. of dietary fiber whichresulted in the fiber element of the tortilla consisting of 40% solublefiber and 60% of insoluble fiber. To the above, we added 8 gr. ofpreservatives which consisted propionic and fumaric acid salts, 1.5 gr.of carboximethyl-cellulose, and 2.5 gr. of citric acid. The results wereacceptable with regard to shelf life and organoleptic attributes.

EXAMPLE 4

We used 900 gr. of corn paste and added 100 gr. of dietary fiber whichresulted in the fiber element of the tortilla consisting of 40% solublefiber and 60% of insoluble fiber. To the above, we added 8 gr. ofpreservatives which consisted propionic and furmaric acid salts, 1.5 gr.of carboxymethyl-cellulose, and 2.5 gr. of citric acid. The results wereacceptable with regard to shelf life and organoleptic attributes.However this “tortilla” had a tendency to get hard.

The best fiber combination was the one described in Example 3, since itprovided (1) the recommended daily amount of dietary fiber with a verysmall portion of “tortilla”, (2) the best product quality with regard toappearance, taste, smell, and with a long shelf life.

What is claimed is:
 1. A corn paste for making tortillas comprising 65grams of dietary fiber in one kilogram of corn paste, wherein saiddietary fiber further comprises between 30 to 50 percent of solubledietary fiber and between 55 to 70 percent of insoluble dietary fiber.2. The corn paste in claim 1 in which the dietary fiber comprises 40percent soluble dietary fiber and 60 percent insoluble dietary fiber. 3.The corn paste in claim 2 further comprising 8 grams of preservatives inone kilogram of corn paste, the 8 grams of preservatives comprisingpropionic, fumaric acid salts, 1.5 gram of carboxymethyl-cellulose and2.6 gram of citric acid.
 4. The corn paste in claim 2 further comprising8 grams of preservatives in one kilogram of corn paste, the 8 grams ofpreservatives comprising propionic, fumaric acid salts, 1.5 gram ofcarboxymethyl-cellulose, and 2.5 grams of citric acid.
 5. The corn pastein claim 1 further comprising 8 grams of preservatives in one kilogramof corn paste, the 8 grams of preservatives comprising propionic,fumaric acid salts, 1.5 gram of carboxymethyl-cellulose, and 2.6 gramsof citric acid.
 6. The corn paste in claim 1 further comprising 8 gramsof preservatives in one kilogram of corn paste, the 8 grams ofpreservatives comprising propionic, fumaric acid salts, 1.5 gram ofcarboxymethyl-cellulose, and 2.5 grams of citric acid.
 7. A corn pastefor making tortillas comprising between 10 and 100 grams of dietaryfiber in one kilogram of corn paste wherein said dietary fiber furthercomprises between 30 to 50 percent of soluble dietary fiber and between55 to 70 percent of insoluble dietary fiber.
 8. The corn paste in claim7 further comprising 8 grams of preservatives in one kilogram of cornpaste. the 8 grams of preservatives comprising propionic, fumaric acidsalts, 1.5 gram of carboxymethyl-cellulose, and 2.5 grams of citricacid.
 9. The corn paste in claim 7 further comprising 8 grams ofpreservatives in one kilogram of corn paste, the 8 grams ofpreservatives comprising propionic, fumaric acid salts, 1.5 gram ofcarboxymethyl-cellulose, and 2.6 grams of citric acid.